The Seven Years of Darkness
by Forgotten Hatred
Summary: After pulling the Master Sword, Link is trapped in the sacred realm, and Zelda does her part disguised as Shiek, to stop Ganondorf's rein of terror
1. Default Chapter

Author's note: This is my first Zelda story. I don't know much, so things are going to be a bit different than your used too. If you don't like this, get over it! It'll be alright!  
  
Disclaimer: The characters Link, Zelda, Navi, Ganondorf, Hakonian, Shiek, Impa, Roy, and Marth are all property of their respective games, which is in turn property of Nintendo. I do not own any of the characters from these games, and will claim no such prize.  
  
Prologue: The Defeat of a King  
  
Princess Zelda sat in her chamber in the west wing of Hyrule castle. She brushed her beautiful golden hair, as she often did when she thought. For the past few days, she had done a good bit of thinking.  
  
She was thinking of the boy, Link. She had sent him on a quest for the spiritual stones, and she now worried for his safety.  
  
"Such a sweet boy," she said to herself. "Cute and brave," she smiled at the face in the mirror, bright blue eyes and a warm smiled looked back at her.  
  
But not all was as peaceful as it seemed.  
  
Link stood at the edge of the blue waters of Lake Hylia, shaking himself off and trying to dry his clothes a little bit.  
  
Hope my sword doesn't rust, he thought, strapping his belt back on and putting his deku shield in it's accustomed place on his back.  
  
And there he stood. His blue eyes looking round as water slowly dripped from his green tunic. His brown boots were mostly dry from his swim, but still a little damp.  
  
He reached underneath his tunic, pulling the three spiritual stones out. He smiled at himself as he looked at these stones, happy that his quest might finally be over and he could return to his friends.  
  
Placing the stones back inside his tunic, he ran as fast as he could, out of Lake Hylia and toward Hyrule castle.  
  
When the castle came into sight, Link slid to a stop. Smoke rose from inside the castle and flames burst through the air. Link's eyes were wide with terror.  
  
Pulling his sword and shield, he ran as fast as he could toward the castle, worried about the Princess  
  
Impa ran through the once dark halls of Hyrule castle, her muscles rippling in her legs and arms as she pushed herself harder to get to the Princess faster. Swords and shields clanged outside as Hylian soldiers fought to ward off the oncoming Gerudo forces. But some had already fallen and the Gerudo began swarming the castle. They were on the stairs now, and a punch to the face stunned one enough for Impa to throw her over the side.  
  
Zelda's screams could be heard as flames whipped around her door. Two Gerudo stood, swords drawn, and awaited Impa.  
  
The first charged in, swinging wildly at Impa. After dodging several attacks, Impa grabbed the Gerudo's arm, ducked under it and came up behind her, arms around the neck. A pop could be heard as she applied pressure, and the body fell limply to the floor.  
  
The second guard didn't have time to react. Impa's boot mer her face, and she was on the ground, her own sword deep within her heart.  
  
Impa reached to open the door but found it was locked. A ram from her shoulder fixed this, and the door shattered to the ground.  
  
Inside, Impa found a third guard trying to catch Zelda, who was running around wildly. Impa id herself, and when Zelda ran toward her and turned sharply, Impa met the oncoming soldier with a fist to the throat. The Gerudo soldier fell to the ground, gasping as a ball of magic engulfed her, and killed her.  
  
"Come child," Impa said, taking Zelda's hand. "We must find your father!" and they ran out and down the stairs as quickly as they could.  
  
The fire was growing inside the castle and the sounds of battle were becoming quieter. Impa knew that the Hylian army was lost.  
  
Screams could be heard as a man with a very deep voice shouted. "Where is it, old man?" was all that could be heard.  
  
Zelda and Impa jumped through the flames covering the doorway in time to see a huge Gerudo male with red hair, black armor, and evil eyes, kill King Hakonian. The Gerudo looked at them and Impa shouted to Zelda, "Run!" And run they did, to the outside of the castle where Impa's horse awaited.  
  
Impa sat Zelda on the horse, then jumped up herself. As soon as she was on the horse they were off, as quickly as the horse could go.  
  
"We must get away from him!" Zelda said to Impa.  
  
As the horse darted through the market place, Impa looked back and said a few words quietly. An explosion shook the ground and sent chunks of Earth flying as she pointed a finger at the Gerudo.  
  
But it did not slow him. He rode through the explosion faster than ever, a smile on his greenish face. His black steed was starting to close the gape between them now.  
  
Impa could now see the gated leading out to Hyrule field. One of the chains holding the bridge up was broken and the bridge leaned to one side. Just beyond the bridge, a small boy could be seen with a sword and a shield, a blue fairy flew around him.  
  
"Hold on," Impa said as the white horse humped across the bridge. The boy watched as the horse jumped, landed, and rode past.  
  
Zelda pulled something out of her pocket. "Link!" she yelled as she threw the blue object at him, and it rose and fell into the moat.  
  
Link turned and walked toward the moat when his fairy, Navi, shouted "Look!"  
  
The Gerudo had crossed the moat and stopped in front of the boy. "Where is she, boy?" his voice was deep and Link felt much evil in it.  
  
"To get to her, you must get through me, Ganondorf!" Link shouted at him.  
  
Ganondorf laughed a wicked, hateful laugh. "You must be joking," he said as he sent a purple ball of magic out, knocking the boy to the ground.  
  
With a laugh, he rode off. When Link stood again, he found it difficult to balance and his muscles ached. After a moment, he jumped into the moat and grabbed the blue object the Princess had thrown at him. 


	2. Chapter 1: New Found Power

Chapter 1: New Found Power  
  
Zelda and Impa rode for what seemed like hours. Zelda had been watching Link's confrontation with Ganondorf, and that had bought them time.  
  
"Where are we going?" Zelda asked Impa.  
  
Impa was quiet for a moment. A cold look was on her face. "We are going to Labryyna, a country to the north." Silence for a moment. "We will be safe there, for the most part."  
  
Zelda thought for a moment. "What will we do there?"  
  
Impa looked at her. "I don't know child. I don't know."  
  
Ganondorf Dragmire, king of the Gerudo, rode off toward the north, his black steed following the stench of Hylians. As he rode, his expression was one of anger. He had allowed a slip of a girl to escape with the sheikah, Impa. But it was of no consequence. He would catch them.  
  
For a few moments, he allowed his thoughts to wander. He thought about how good it finally felt to kill Harkonian. As he thought about this, a smile, that wicked, demonic smile, crept onto his face.  
  
The thought of Harkonian dead almost made him burst out in laughter. With the king now dead, it would be easier for him to take over Hyrule.and eventually the world.  
  
But suddenly something startled him. He pulled his horse to a dead stop and turned it around. The horse ran at full speed back toward the castle.  
  
Link looked at the blue, round ocarina curiously. His own ocarina wasn't nearly as pretty as this one. Just under the mouthpiece was a symbol. Three triangles, joined at the edges to make a single triangle.  
  
What an odd shape, he thought, putting the ocarina under his tunic. He looked around. "Where was I sup0posed to go again?"  
  
"Go to the Temple of Time, Link!" Navi's high-pitched voice was just as annoying as ever.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Link said, darting over the broken bridge and sprinting through the market place.  
  
The Temple of Time was large, and rather hollow inside. A single pedestal sat towards the back of the room, and a large door covered something up. Slowly, Link walked across the empty, white room, to the edge of the pedestal.  
  
"Hey!" Navi shouted to him, flying around the pedestal. "We can put the spiritual stones here!"  
  
Link was more than a little confused. What good would that do? He wondered. But, as annoying as she may be, Navi was very intelligent, and often gave good advice.  
  
So Link complied, placing the stones in their respective placed on the pedestal. The spiritual stone of the Forest came first, then the stone of Fire, and then the stone of Water.  
  
Navi flew over to the door. A strange design was on it, almost like a star. Link walked over to it. "OK," he said, "Now what?"  
  
There was silence for a moment. But then he heard someone call his name. But it was distant, almost as if someone were yelling from afar.  
  
"Link, listen," the voice said. It was a soft voice, smooth and melodical. It made him believe the goddesses were talking to him.  
  
"Who's that? Was it you Navi?" Link asked.  
  
"Great," Navi whispered, "Now he's talking to himself."  
  
"Shut up," Link said, "someone's talking to me." Then he heard it again.  
  
"It's me, Link. Zelda"  
  
"Where are you?" he asked.  
  
"On the road, fleeing from Ganondorf. You have to stop him Link." Then Link heard a melody that was more beautiful than anything he had ever heard. "That song will get you through the door. Ave us, Link. Save Hyrule." Her voice faded.  
  
Navi flew over to Link. "What was that?" she asked him.  
  
"I think." he started, pulling the blue ocarina from under his tunic. He put it up to his lips and stared to play the tune he had heard. When he finished playing, the door lifted, revealing an empty room with a sword in a pedestal. Light shone on the stone from a window, and glinted magnificently off the metal. Slowly, Link took a step into the room.  
  
Ganondorf's horse sped across the field at break neck speed. He had to get there as quickly as he could. He could already feel the spiritual stones and the Door of Time opened up. In a few short minutes, the Triforce would be his.  
  
The castle was now in sight, looking closer and closer as the black horse's hooves pounded the ground, leaving a long trail of dust behind him. He could still see flames from different parts of the castle, and from the town around. The only thing left untouched was the Temple of Time.  
  
His black steed jumped the broken bridge with ease, and upon landing a single Hylian soldier raised his halberd high, rearing back as if to strike Ganondorf, and pull him t the ground. The horse's hooves rode over him like a blade of grass, crushing bones and spewing blood on the ground.  
  
As the horse neared the Temple, it did not slow down. This was all good and well, for Ganondorf was in a hurry and when he was close enough he jumped off his horse, rolled on the ground, and ran as fast as he could toward the Temple.  
  
"The Master Sword!" Navi shouted excitedly, flying toward the pedestal. "It's the Master Sword, Link!"  
  
Link walked up to it. The sun light from the window was bright, and he felt for a moment that all was right in the world. But deep down he knew that wall was not right. He knew that Hyrule castle had fallen, and he knew the Princess was gone. The thought of those evil Gerudo beasts killing the King, and running Princess out of the castle made him angry. His eyes blazed with a blind rage. His heart was filled with anger, and fear.  
  
"What's going to happen, Navi?" Link's whisper was barely audible.  
  
"What do you mean?" she said.  
  
"Those Gerudo took the castle. Ganondorf chased down the Princess." He let out a long sigh. "Do you think." he gulped, "do you thin he killed her?"  
  
Navi flew over to him. "Princess Zelda is strong. Plus she had Impa with her right? She will endure."  
  
Navi's reassurance left Link in an awkward silence. "There's only one way to know," he said, stepping up to the pedestal.  
  
Navi fluttered around with excitement as Link wrapped his small hands around the hilt of the Master Sword. His muscles, well defined for a boy his age, flexed as he pulled on the sword. He relaxed his muscles, tightened his grip, and then tried again.  
  
The blade slid out from the pedestal with a cold shink, and a circle of light above Link's head opened. His eyes closed and his body fell to the ground.  
  
With the Master Sword still in his hand, his body was lifted into the glowing circle.  
  
The inside of the Temple of Time was brighter than usual, and Ganondorf's black armor and sickly green skin showed like blood in the snow. He slowed his pace now, watching as the boy talked to his little fairy. The empty rooms of the glowing Temple echoed every word as Ganondorf stepped closer and closer.  
  
His blood red eyes watched as the boy placed his hands on the hilt, and pulled the sword out. Then something happened that he hadn't expected. A glowing circle of light appeared above the boy as his body fell limply to the ground.  
  
"The Sacred Realm," Ganondorf whispered, turning his slow walk to a sprint. He knew what was in the Sacred Realm, and his greed for it was overwhelming.  
  
As the boy's body was lifted into the glowing circle with the Master Sword, Ganondorf launched himself with a growl into the glowing circle.  
  
The light inside the Sacred Realm was a blinding white. Ganondorf could hardly open his eyes without pain. But one golden object broke the vast, never ending whiteness. It stood out magnificently and glimmered brightly, and Ganondorf smiled at it.  
  
Slowly he reached for it. But it acted almost as if it had a mind of it's own, and it seemed to move away from him.  
  
But his greed was to great, and he caught it. When he touched it, however, only one part came to him. The other two disappeared with a golden flash of light. Where they went, none could tell. Only one thing was certain.  
  
The Triforce of Power was now in Ganondorf's hands. 


	3. Chapter 2: The Changing of a Kingdom

Chapter 2: The Changing of a Kingdom  
  
Zelda sat on the grass, looking out over the beautiful waters of Lake Hylia as the sun started to sink. She thought about all the other times that she had snuck out of the castle and come here to be alone.  
  
Now she really was alone. Her father was dead. Her friends were dead. And the only boy she had ever cared for was dead too.  
  
So now here she was. No friends. No family. Nothing. All she had was the clothes on her back. But that's not what bothered her. What bothered her was that she thought she would never see the boy again.  
  
"Are you OK, Miss Zelda?" Impa's voice seemed distant, but Zelda saw her sit down next to her.  
  
Zelda looked to her. A tear streamed down her cheek. "Yes, Impa. I'll be fine."  
  
"What troubles you child?" The setting sun made Impa's gray hair and eyes seem almost magical.  
  
Zelda's blue eyes were full of tears. Her blonde hair was soaked with sweat. "I miss my father. I miss my friends."  
  
Impa looked out at the waters. "Is that all?" she said.  
  
Zelda's eyes moved to the ocean as well. "No, Impa. I miss Link." She used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I worry that he was killed. I can't speak to him anymore." She sighed.  
  
Impa was silent for a few moments. "Life will not be easy from now on. Ganondorf has taken over and he will plunge Hyrule into darkness." Again, that dreaded silence. "We will fight. It won't be easy, but when we get to Labryyna, I'm going to make you powerful. Until then, I'll teach you what I can when we have the chance."  
  
"I'll get him back." Zelda said, more to herself than to Impa. "I'm going to face Ganondorf, and I'm going to destroy him."  
  
Impa smiled at her determination. It made her happy to see that she was ready to fight, no matter what the cost.  
  
When Ganondorf opened his eyes he was still in the Temple of Time, sprawled about the empty pedestal like a Gerudo Rug.  
  
When he stood, he was a bit woozy, and it too him a few moments to remember what had happened. But then he laughed.  
  
He felt a new surge of power as he clutched his fists together and ran out of the Temple.  
  
As quickly as he could he ran to the castle, where his Gerudo followers patrolled, killing any Hylians they found. As he approached them he did not slow, but instead ran faster toward the castle.  
  
"I must change this place." he started, "to something more to my liking." And he smiled evilly.  
  
He looked over at one of his soldiers. "I want Hyrule searched until you find the Princess." His face was wide with delight. "Then bring her to me."  
  
His soldiers mounted their horses and rode off into the distance, scimitars held high.  
  
Impa woke Zelda late in the night. As Zelda sat up, looking around, she could see torch light in the distance.  
  
"What-" she started, still dazed form sleep.  
  
"Gerudo." Impa whispered. "When I tell you, lay flat in that tall patch of grass." A few silent moments passed. "go, child," Impa said.  
  
Zelda scrambled toward the patch of grass. It was wet from the morning dew, and Zelda hated to get her dress dirty, but then again, she didn't want them to catch her.  
  
"I'll be right back," Impa whispered from her own unseen hiding spot. And then she was gone.  
  
For the first time, she was scared. Her body trembled, shaking the tall blades of grass and causing dew to droop on her blonde hair.  
  
But she watched, despite her fear, as the Gerudo troops came closer and closer. Then she saw a shadow drop down. the torch in front flew threw the air and the carrier fell, shortly after. Then one by one each soldier fell victim to an unseen assassin.  
  
Zelda jumped when Impa knelt down beside her. "It's clear," was all she said.  
  
Slowly, Zelda rose, still shaking form Impa's dramatic entrance. Her heart was still pounding and she struggled to get it back to normal.  
  
When she stood, she tried her best to brush the dirt off her, but the wet dew would not come off. It would have to dry to her dress.  
  
"When we get to Labrynna," Impa started, her gray eyes looking to the horizon. "we will get you some fresh clothes."  
  
Zelda now stood at her side. Her protector now looked like a hardened warrior, instead of the soft, docile lady Zelda always thought her to be. "How far is Labrynna?" Zelda's voice was clam and beautiful.  
  
Impa was silent for a moment. Her gaze shifted from the horizon to Zelda, "A long way." was all she said. She didn't want to tell Zelda how long the ride was actually going to be.  
  
"Will it take us long to get there?" Zelda was just as curious as she always was.  
  
"I can't say for sure." Impa stated.  
  
"Why not?" Zelda's big blue eyes looked up at Impa.  
  
"It all depends on several factors. One is the amount of resistance Ganondorf sends to us. Another is the weather." Impa looked to were a cloud of dust rose. It was coming from the castle, she could plainly see. "A third is how fast you are willing to go."  
  
Zelda followed Impa's gaze to the dust cloud. "To get to safety?" Zelda said. "As fast as we can."  
  
Impa nodded. "Good." She said. "We ride at dawn." And she sat on the ground, her back against a tree. She didn't want to get any wetter than she already was. But that was the least of her problems.  
  
Sleep did not come easy for Zelda. She was used to sleeping in a soft bed, not against a tree. This, she could tell, would take some getting used to.  
  
Hyrule castle was now changed, and none for the better. The stone bridge leading to the castle was shattered. The beautiful green grass and bright flowers that once dotted the land were destroyed, and had been replaced by dark mud and dirt. The gates around the castle were ripped apart.  
  
A moat of fire and lava surrounded the once white and vibrant castle, turned black and evil as it floated on a piece of land in the air. Inside, the dark King Ganondorf strapped his armor on and prepared for his search of the land, which was now his.  
  
Now ready for his departure, he descended from his castle and softly landed on the desolate land. His pitch black steep ran to him, it's own armor strapped to it's neck and legs. Mounting the horse, Ganondorf rode into the distance, searching for his trophy. 


End file.
